Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Becoming a Teacher
This section introduces the United States system of teacher training. It describes
some of the student teaching experiences reported by Case Study teachers and
reports on three innovative approaches to professional development.
The United States teacher education system is tiered. Generally, a high school di-
ploma is needed to teach young children (ages 2–5); a bachelor’s degree is re-
quired to teach children from kindergarten to 12th grade, and a doctorate has be-

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come mandatory for teaching at the college or university level. The K–12 grades
are usually divided into 3 levels: elementary (K to grades 5 or 6), middle (grades
6 to 8 or 9), and secondary (grades 9 to 12 or 10 to 12). Students who are prepar-
ing to teach at one of these levels must attend a college or university for 4 years,
major or minor in education, and earn a teaching certificate. Some states require
students to take a test for entry or to have attained a minimal grade point average.
Typically students will enter a department of education in a college or a school
of education in a university after 2 years of general study. It is also possible to
acquire a teaching degree after graduation by taking additional courses post-bacca-
laureate or by entering a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program.
Because the United States education system is decentralized, each state education
agency (SEA) has its own guidelines and requirements for earning and maintaining
a teaching certificate. All teacher education programs must earn approval from the
state in which they are located and, in about half the states, approval from the
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NACATE) as well.
A teaching certificate earned in one state may or may not be recognized in an-
other. Increasingly, states are also requiring that prospective teachers demonstrate
some minimal level of competency by passing a competency test before they are
allowed to enter the profession. Many now require that teachers also renew their
certification by continuing to take ‘‘renewal credits,’’ i.e., a certain number of col-
lege courses or inservice workshops within a given time period while teaching.
In some states, a master’s degree confers permanent certification. In general,
renewals are premised on the belief that teachers must extend their knowledge
base rather than demonstrate performance. However, teacher induction programs
were instituted in many states during the 1980s (Darling-Hammond 1990). In
these programs, a new teacher typically receives provisional certification and is
observed over the period of a year. Permanent certification is granted if the
teacher performs adequately according to the standards established by the state.
Some states also sponsor additional ‘‘endorsements’’ that may be added to a cer-
tificate. The state of Michigan, for example, offers four endorsements: the ZA
(early childhood), the ZE (general elementary, K to grade 6), the ZD (middle
school, grades 5 to 9), and the ZF (secondary, grades 10 to 12). Teacher training
institutions must meet state guidelines in order to offer an endorsement. In addi-
tion to earning a teaching credential, prospective teachers typically must take 18
or more hours of college-level credits, including 1 or more practica that are tar-
geted at teaching a particular age group. When the job market is extremely com-
petitive—as is the case in some communities and regions—an endorsement pro-
vides an additional qualification for employment. The endorsement may also be
a requirement.

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Teacher shortages exist in some areas, especially in large urban school districts
and in the rapidly expanding cities of the south and west, and in some subject
areas. Since the 1980s, shortages have been especially notable in math and science
(general science, biology, chemistry, and physics) (Darling-Hammond 1990). In
order to meet the need for math and science teachers, some school districts have
allowed qualified individuals to teach with provisional certification and established
special mentoring programs that encourage people to leave business and industry
to enter the teaching profession. ‘‘Teach for America’’ is another innovative pro-
gram that recruits highly qualified college students who have completed their
undergraduate studies and places them in urban and rural schools after one sum-
mer of training.
States delegate authority to local educational agencies, more commonly referred
to as school districts. Districts run schools and directly hire the personnel who
work in them. Most U.S. teachers belong to teacher unions, and it is the unions
who undertake ‘‘collective bargaining’’ with the district, in some states, however,
such bargaining is illegal, and the union’s function only as professional organiza-
tions. College and university programs vary in the amount and kind of practical
experience and theoretical knowledge that are deemed important in teacher train-
ing programs. Although students complain that they do not have enough ‘‘hands-
on’’ learning, many college educators are now stressing the importance of devel-
oping ‘‘reflective practitioners’’ (Schon 1983); that is, teachers who are capable
of thinking deeply about what they are doing and tailoring their practices to the
diverse learning styles and needs of children.